Todd Hamilton
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Todd Hamilton
Born (1965-10-18) October 18, 1965
Galesburg, Illinois
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight195 lb (88 kg; 13.9 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceWestlake, Texas
Children3
Career
CollegeUniversity of Oklahoma
Turned professional1987
Current tour(s)Champions Tour
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Japan Golf Tour
Asia Golf Circuit
Professional wins17
Highest ranking16 (July 18, 2004)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour2
European Tour1
Japan Golf Tour11
Other4
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters TournamentT15: 2009
PGA ChampionshipT29: 2003
U.S. OpenT36: 2008, 2009
The Open ChampionshipWon: 2004
Achievements and awards
Asia Golf Circuit
Order of Merit winner		1992
PGA Tour
Rookie of the Year		2004

William Todd Hamilton (born October 18, 1965) is an American professional golfer. He is best known for his victory at the 2004 Open Championship.

Early life

Hamilton was born in the small west-central Illinois city of Galesburg. He grew up in an even smaller town, Oquawka, in Henderson County on the Mississippi River. His parents were the owners of a small grocery story called "Hamilton's." He attended Union High School in Biggsville, Illinois (now West Central High School) and the University of Oklahoma, where he played collegiately.

Professional career

Hamilton turned professional in 1987 but was unable to gain entrance to the PGA Tour. Instead he played internationally for many years, primarily on the Japan Golf Tour after gaining his card as winner of the 1992 Asia Golf Circuit Order of Merit winner.[2] When he left the Japan Golf Tour after 12 seasons, he was the tour's 2nd all-time leading non-Japanese money winner (to USA's David Ishii), with earnings of over 630 million yen (about $6.18 million in 2014 US dollars) with 11 tour wins.

After eight tries, at the age of 38, Hamilton went back to Qualifying School in 2003, where he finally earned his first PGA Tour card.

Hamilton won his first PGA Tour event at the 2004 Honda Classic. He birdied the final two holes to beat Davis Love III by one stroke at 12 under par. Later that year, Hamilton won a major championship in one of golf's all-time upsets when he defeated Ernie Els in a four-hole playoff to win The Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club. After shooting an opening round 71, Hamilton fired a second round 67 to move to -4 and a fifth-place tie with future World Golf Hall of Famers Els, Vijay Singh and Colin Montgomerie as well as Michael Campbell. Hamilton again shot a 67 in the third round to take a one-shot lead over Els. Entering the tournament's 72nd hole, Hamilton held a one-shot lead over Els, but Hamilton bogeyed the 18th hole, leaving Els with a 12-foot birdie putt for the win, which he missed. Els and Hamilton headed for the four-hole aggregate playoff, in which Hamilton carded four pars while Els managed three pars and a bogey, and Hamilton took the win.[3]

These two victories in his first season on the PGA Tour led to Hamilton being named the 2004 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year and reaching a peak world ranking of 16.[4] In his 187 subsequent tour starts, he missed the cut 111 times and had just three top-10 finishes.[5] In 2006, Hamilton captained the American team in ITV's celebrity golf tournament, the All*Star Cup.

He lost his full exempt status on the PGA Tour in 2010. Hamilton played on the Web.com Tour in 2014 and 2015.[6] Hamilton became eligible to play on the Champions Tour after turning fifty years of age in October 2015.

Personal life

Hamilton lives in Westlake, Texas.

Professional wins (17)

PGA Tour wins (2)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 Mar 14, 2004 The Honda Classic −12 (68-66-68-74=276) 1 stroke United States Davis Love III
2 Jul 18, 2004 The Open Championship −10 (71-67-67-69=274) Playoff South Africa Ernie Els

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2004 The Open Championship South Africa Ernie Els Won four-hole aggregate playoff;
Hamilton: E (4-4-3-4=15),
Els: +1 (4-4-4-4=16)

Japan Golf Tour wins (11)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 Aug 23, 1992 Maruman Open −16 (65-67-67-73=272) 1 stroke Japan Masashi Ozaki
2 Aug 15, 1993 Acom International 40 pts (7-15-3-15=40) 2 points Australia Craig Warren
3 Jul 3, 1994 PGA Philanthropy Tournament −10 (74-69-68-67=278) Playoff Japan Eiji Mizoguchi
4 Sep 4, 1994 Japan PGA Match-Play Championship Promise Cup 8 and 7 Japan Ikuo Shirahama
5 Mar 12, 1995 Token Corporation Cup −7 (70-71-68-72=281) 1 stroke Australia Peter Senior
6 Jun 30, 1996 PGA Philanthropy Tournament (2) −13 (69-69-68-69=275) 2 strokes Japan Kazuhiro Takami
7 Sep 27, 1998 Gene Sarazen Jun Classic −18 (71-66-68-65=270) 2 strokes Australia Craig Parry
8 May 11, 2003 Fujisankei Classic −17 (67-67-65-68=267) 5 strokes Japan Tetsuji Hiratsuka, Japan Shigeru Nonaka
9 Jun 1, 2003 Diamond Cup Tournament −12 (67-72-72-65=276) 3 strokes Australia Steven Conran
10 Jun 29, 2003 Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open −10 (67-72-72-65=278) 1 stroke Australia Brendan Jones
11 Sep 7, 2003 Japan PGA Match-Play Championship (2) 3 and 2 New Zealand David Smail

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (1–4)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1994 PGA Philanthropy Tournament Japan Eiji Mizoguchi Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 1996 Fujisankei Classic United States Brian Watts Lost to par on first extra hole
3 1996 Mitsubishi Galant Tournament Japan Masashi Ozaki Lost to par on first extra hole
4 1996 Pocari Sweat Yomiuri Open Japan Kazuhiro Fukunaga Lost to birdie on second extra hole
4 2002 Munsingwear Open KSB Cup Japan Yoshimitsu Fukuzawa, Japan Kenichi Kuboya Kuboya won with birdie on fourth extra hole
Fukuzawa eliminated by birdie on second hole

Asia Golf Circuit wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 Apr 19, 1992 Maekyung Open −8 (68-70-69-73=280) Playoff Taiwan Lin Chie-hsiang
2 Feb 5, 1995 Thai Airways Thailand Open −17 (68-68-70-65=271) Playoff United States Steve Veriato

Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (2–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1992 Sanyang Republic of China Open Taiwan Lin Chie-hsiang, United States Craig McClellan Lin won with birdie on first extra hole
2 1992 Maekyung Open Taiwan Lin Chie-hsiang Won with par on first extra hole
3 1995 Thai Airways Thailand Open United States Steve Veriato Won with par on second extra hole

Other wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 Mar 22, 1992 Rolex Masters −10 (70-67-66-71=274) 4 strokes United States Gerry Norquist, United States Lee Porter
2 Aug 29, 1999 Oklahoma Open −12 (66-68-64=198) 1 stroke United States Greg Gregory

Major championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
2004The Open Championship1 shot lead−10 (71-67-67-69=274)Playoff1South Africa Ernie Els

1Defeated Ernie Els in 4-hole playoff; Hamilton (4-4-3-4=15), Els (4-4-4-4=16).

Results timeline

Tournament 1988 1989
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT T45
PGA Championship
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament 40 T39 CUT CUT T36 T15
U.S. Open CUT CUT CUT CUT T36 T36
The Open Championship CUT 1 CUT T68 CUT T32 CUT
PGA Championship T29 T37 T47 CUT T66 CUT
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open T60
The Open Championship CUT CUT CUT T73 CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT
PGA Championship
  Win
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00000174
U.S. Open00000083
The Open Championship100111185
PGA Championship00000064
Totals1001123916
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2007 PGA – 2008 Open Championship)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 200420052006200720082009
The Players Championship T58 CUT CUT T75 T54 CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament200320042005
Match Play R64
Championship 72 T6
Invitational 21
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied

Results in senior major championships

Results not in chronological order before 2017.

Tournament20162017201820192020202120222023
The Tradition T23 T40 T48 NT
Senior PGA Championship CUT CUT T33 CUT NT CUT CUT CUT
U.S. Senior Open T37 T40 CUT NT
Senior Players Championship T61 T63 49
Senior British Open Championship CUT T61 CUT NT
  Did not play

"T" indicates a tie for a place
CUT = missed the halfway cut
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Week 29 2004 Ending 18 Jul 2004" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  2. ↑ Edmund, Nick (1993). Heineken World of Golf 93. Stanley Paul. p. 170. ISBN 0091781000.
  3. ↑ "Troon – 2004 Results". The Open. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Todd Hamilton - Advanced Statistics".
  5. ↑ Rosaforte, Tim (July 29, 2013). "The Anonymous Champion". Golf Digest.
  6. ↑ "Todd Hamilton Tournament Results – 2014". ESPN. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
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